Boston is continuing to report that COVID wastewater levels are dropping, as state health officials on Thursday reported a 20% decrease in new virus cases and falling hospitalizations.
Data from the Boston Public Health Commission’s wastewater surveillance program shows that the number of COVID particles in the wastewater plunged 42% over the past two weeks.
Six of the 11 neighborhood testing sites had rates that were below the citywide average of 407 viral RNA copies per milliliter: East Boston, South Boston, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester, Hyde Park, and Roslindale/West Roxbury.
The neighborhoods above the virus wastewater average were Allston/Brighton, Charlestown, Back Bay, Mattapan, and Roxbury.
On Thursday, the state Department of Public Health reported 2,076 virus cases over the last week. The daily average of 297 COVID cases from the last week was a 20% drop from the daily rate of 373 virus infections during the previous week.
The Bay State’s positive test average decreased again last week. The seven-day positive test rate is now 4.02%, down from 4.49% last week.
The state Department of Public Health on Thursday also reported that 368 total patients are hospitalized with COVID, which is a drop of 55 patients from this time last week.
The state reported 38 new COVID deaths over the past week, bringing the state’s total to 24,441 recorded deaths since the start of the pandemic. The daily average of deaths is now four, which had been up in recent months.
More than 5.6 million people in the state have been fully vaccinated, and more than 3.5 million people have received at least one booster dose. Also, the state reported that more than 1.6 million additional booster doses have been administered.
